[iBook] Garageband on iBook 1.2 GHz

[Angus Wallace]

I've used it on my iBook (G4 800, 256kB L2 cache, 640MB RAM, 60GB hard disk),
and it's usable, but not with many channels or effects. It's pretty slow, and
not particularly enjoyable to use though.

I use Protools too, and find that I can get a lot more done, and it's much more
responsive. To me this says that Garageband is quite resource-intensive.

Having said this, your iBook is quite a bit more gutsy than mine, so it should
fare much better. The extra RAM and L2 cache should go a long way. In any case,
I'd be interested to know how your friend's son goes (if he's not happy with it,
I can take it off your hands! ;-)

Depending on what he wants to do, a good program is Audacity. It's a basic
multichannel recording program, and on any machine will allow similtaneous
recording/playback of more channels than Garagaband will. So, if that's his
focus, and he's running out of grunt to record lots of channels, there are
other options. Another good program is Ardour. (both these are Free-software or
the GNU variety)

It depends what he wants to do. If he wants to only record live instruments, and
layer sounds, mix down, etc, there are better options. If he wants to 'play'
with loops, effects, software synths, etc, then Garageband is a good option and
he might like more computing grunt.

Cheers,
-Gus

Quoting gooddog at interlync.com:

> Hello, folks;
> 
> I have an iBook with these specs
> 
> iBook G4, 1.2 GHz, 512 L2 Cache, 1.25 GB memory, 60 GB harddrive.
> 
> 
> and am going to be giving this to a friend's 14 year old so he can  
> use it mainly for GarareBand.  Has anyone used GB much on an iBook  
> like this one? How will it work? Are there any performance issues to  
> expect, or quirks?  I ask so I'll be prepared to help out if need be.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mark
> 
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